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It’s not that grim up North
The ‘grim up North’ cliche is not always true and in Manchester there are many things to be proud of at the moment, writes Charlie Norman
At home I have the above sketch (drawn by a talented friend) on my wall – the late, great and often controversial Tony Wilson, who commented on how we do things differently around here.
Last week the Housing 2019 conference was held in Manchester, and the Greater Manchester family launched a new ambition to deliver a new housing strategy among a myriad of other great aspirations, it seemed appropriate to write a commentary piece about how we are doing housing differently in Greater Manchester.
We all want this to be a place where people can grow up well, get on well and age well.
I am sure that anyone reading this believes that it is a basic human right for all to have a safe, warm, affordable and decent place to call home as well as have equal access to opportunities in life – is this really too much to ask?
It is abhorrent to think that due to strained public policy, years of austerity and the treatment of homes as a nest egg rather than a nest, more people are homeless than 10 years ago and inequality is rampaging through society in one of the richest nations in the world.
Let’s face it – despite best efforts, not a great deal on housing policy has been forthcoming for the past 18 months with the kerfuffle in Westminster and it really does feel like the love hasn’t spread up North.
So it’s good to know that we are doing things differently around here and have taken charge of our own destiny.
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There is huge dissonance between the central drive and obsession with building new homes and the need to invest in our existing homes and communities – it’s particularly acute in the North.
We need policy that thinks about building safety, pre-1919 terraced homes not dealt with in previous regeneration programmes, zero-carbon standards, more supported housing, and good strategic asset management. The list goes on.
We have to balance all of this with the need to build much-needed new homes. This is why within the Greater Manchester Housing Providers (GMHP) group we got over ourselves a good few years ago and now work together to achieve more for the greater good – we feel really proud to be part of this collaboration which is in great shape.
On top of this, our relationships with the combined authority, the elected mayor, local politicians, the districts and the Health and Social Care Partnership are critical and have evolved so much.
Our relationship with our tenants and communities is also more critical than ever, and we are focusing on this to get things right for them.
To help with the need for more homes, better life chances and health outcomes, GMHP has just refreshed its ambition to deliver, aiming for a new and evolved agreement with local partners. Here’s what we have pledged in a nutshell:
- For new and existing homes, we will double building new homes (16,000) in the next 5 years. The new Greater Manchester housing strategy sets a target to build 50,000 new homes by 2037, 30,000 of which are for social rent – hurrah!
- We also want to help people to stay at home longer but if they want to right size in later life then we need to develop and regenerate homes that are attractive, technologically advanced and well designed. To that end, we’re working with localities to deliver 15,000 new supported and age-friendly homes by 2035.
- We’ll also be investing in existing homes – we have signed a zero-carbon pledge by 2038 in Greater Manchester (a no mean feat). We will be playing our part to eliminate the impact of carbon emissions but importantly reducing fuel bills.
- It goes without saying that more grant would help – both for new supply and regeneration. We will support influencing efforts in the Spending Review to spend £16bn more in this. Freeing land, easing planning and access to public land that recognises social value as well as maximising capital receipts would also hit the mark.
- On health and social care, we are working on a Greater Manchester-wide approach to healthy homes based on the home improvement agency model.
- There will also be a census to measure what we have now in terms of independent living and what we need in the future as well as working with partners, such as the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to ensure a pathway for better mental health.
- On work and skills, we want to help 1,000 apprentices into work and support 2,000 residents a year into work.
- On homelessness, anyone who came to conference can’t have missed the tragic situation with rough sleeping in the city as in many other places up and down the nation.
When Metallica (my favourite band) played here a week or so ago, they gave £40,000 to a homelessness charity after being moved by the amazing efforts of the voluntary sector to do something about it. Austerity, welfare reforms and withdrawal of public services have taken their toll and it just isn’t acceptable.
With the leadership of the elected mayor and other civic leaders, GMHP along with many partners are really trying to overcome this huge challenge through efforts such as our supported housing offer, the successful social impact bond, A Bed Every Night, an armed forces covenant, housing options for older people and now the Housing First programme.
All of these have been led in different ways by many of the GM housing partners.
It really isn’t grim up North – this is a fantastic place.
Despite all the shenanigans going on at the moment and the challenging times we live in, let’s remain focused on doing our bit to shape places and homes where people can live well and do well in life and keep doing things differently.
Charlie Norman, group chief executive, Mosscare St Vincent’s
